WindowView — Science

Perspectives

(092112)

Icons Of Evolution

Questions:

Are
there any examples in textbooks and popular
teachings where evolution is potentially misleading
or misrepresented?

Are
there just a few rare examples are key examples
subject to being problems?

What
would happen if the misrepresentations were
removed from textbooks

Short Answer:

If
you are unaware of the recent book published
by Dr. Wells (entitled: Icons of Evolution)
then we have a strong recommendation for
you! Please read
this book!

Why
this book? Simply put, there are a number of examples
commonly used in favor of justifying the
standard story for evolution. These are
called the 'Icons' or key examples in
support of evolution theory. What is not
commonly known is that many of the icons
are misleading and in some cases downright
misrepresent scientific truth.

What
is perhaps most exciting is the debate
and controversy that has stemmed from
Dr. Wells' writings. First,
we'll introduce you to a list of the icons
Dr. Wells has addressed in his book (see
the list of ten questions below). Second,
to look at the detailed discussion that
followed the book's publication, we offer
a link to a lengthy article that gives
Dr. Wells response to his critics (link
follows the ten questions below). It's
very interesting reading and this is an
article you might like to print and read
off-line for your careful consideration.

If
the icons are wrong then isn't removing them simply going to leave us with
a negative spin on some of the evidence that supports evolution? The short
answer is the icons described by Dr. Wells are the key cornerstone to most
of what is used to represent Darwinian evolution theory. All this may come
as a negative perspective ... but remember the WindowView provides many other
perspectives that compliment or examine other sides of the view beyond the
discussion on these icons alone.

Consider This:

When
Dr. Wells gives a personal presentation
on his work, he may come with bookmarks
to hand out to the audience. At Yale University,
during the November 2000 symposium on
"Science and Evidence for Design
in the Universe," the bookmarks given
out at that time listed the following:

TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK
YOUR BIOLOGY
TEACHER ABOUT EVOLUTION

By
Jonathan Wells, Ph.D.

1. ORIGIN OF LIFE

Why do textbooks claim that the
1953 Miller-Urey experiment shows
how life’s building blocks
may have formed on the early Earth—when
conditions on the early Earth were
probably nothing like those used
in the experiment, and the origin
of life remains a mystery?

2. DARWIN’S TREE OF LIFE

Why don’t
textbooks discuss the '’Cambrian
explosion,’’ in which
all major animal groups appear
together in the fossil record
fully formed instead of branching
from a common ancestor—thus
contradicting the evolutionary
tree of life?

3. HOMOLOGY

Why
do textbooks define homology as
similarly due to common ancestry,
then claim that it is evidence
for common ancestry——a
circular argument masquerading
as scientific evidence?

4. VERTEBRATE EMBRYOS

Why
do textbooks use drawings of
similarities in vertebrate embryos
as evidence for their common
ancestry—even though biologists
have known for over a century
that vertebrate embryos are not
most similar in their early stages,
and the drawings are faked?

5. ARCHAEOPTERYX

Why do textbooks portray this
fossil as the missing link between
dinosaurs and modern birds—even
though modern birds are probably
not descended from it, and its
supposed ancestors do not appear
until millions of years after
it?

6. PEPPERED MOTHS

Why
do textbooks use pictures of peppered
moths camouflaged on tree trunks
as evidence for natural selection—when
biologists have known since the
1980s that the moths don’t
normally rest on tree trunks, and
all the pictures have been staged?

7. DARWIN’S FINCHES

Why do textbooks
claim that beak changes in Galapagos
finches during a severe drought
can explain the origin of species
by natural selection—even
though the changes were reversed
after the drought ended, and
no net evolution occurred?

8. MUTANT FRUIT FLIES.

Why
do textbooks use fruit flies with
an extra pair of wings as evidence
that DNA mutations can supply raw
materials for evolution—even
though the extra wings have no
muscles and these disabled mutants
cannot survive outside the laboratory?

9.HUMAN
ORIGINS

Why
are artist’s drawings of
ape-like humans used to justify
materialistic claims that we
are just animals and our existence
is a mere accident—when
fossil experts cannot even agree
on who our supposed ancestors
were or what they looked like?

10. EVOLUTION A FACT?

Why
are we told that Darwin’s
theory of evolution is a scientific
fact—even though many of its
claims are based on misrepresentations
of the facts?

What's
important here is the overall tone Dr.
Wells takes as he considers the nature
and content of his critics' writings
about his book and related topics. Note
his care in responding accurately and
even with a bit of spirited rebuttals.
Reading this article will give you some
of the main points made in the book
as well as a means to assess how others
read and interpret what is in the 'Icons
of Evolution.'

There
are a number of misleading examples
used in current textbooks. The following
two figures were obtained from an elementary
biology textbook published in 1924.
The horse series illustrated in Figure
249 is not fiction. The skeletons are
known data, but their interpretation
is what is important. Aligned as illustrated
is what is misleading—the actual historical sequence differs. This is something
that Jonathan Wells addresses in his
book Icons of Evolution (IC).

Other
examples that are not only misleading, but
false, include Piltdown man. This is something
that also made its way into textbooks and
resided there until problems with the 'fossil
find' were exposed.

The
important point here is not to gin up negative
evidence against evolution. If that's what
comes to mind, then think again. What we
are asking is an accounting for as accurate
a picture of life as possible. Where scientific
principles apply and data exist to support
a position, then all the better! Where misleading
interpretations have created a false view,
then it's time to reexamine and rework the
explanations to reflect what can be known,
not what one is led to inappropriately think
or like would like to believe.

A COMMENT

By
Dr. Peterson, Director, WindowView.org

If
you go hear Dr. Wells talk, in person, he
will probably open a box full of very colorful
bookmarks. He enjoys handing out these bookmarks
for all to share. And, what you have just
read above will be printed on both sides
of this bookmark. At the bottom is listed
the web address for Icons of Evolution. You
can find this address on our web links page
here at WindowView.

We
recommend a reading of Dr. Wells’ book,
entitled: Icons of Evolution. You can use the WindowView bookstore link below
to purchase this title.

When
you read the book, think of a very mild mannered,
very considerate, intelligent individual who
takes great care to clearly explain his points.
Dr. Wells exemplifies a responsible presentation
that is the foundation to the empirical process
that so often gets heatedly excused as irrational
creationism. The point is, biologists and
all scientists at large need only study the
evidence and report just what the evidence
indicates… not more. Not bias, not assumption,
but what does the evidence tell us!

Certainly
concepts such as macroevolution (that is,
all life comes from a common ancestor—and
perhaps this having evolved from a prebiotic
mix of random and simple molecules) should
not be taught through bias or on unfounded
assumption. From the empirical viewpoint,
we aren’t claiming to know exactly how
certain events came about, but we do ask
the same of evidence used in support of evolution—especially
when the evidence does not support the classical
textbook descriptions so often presented
as fact.

When
school board members or the National Academy
of Science members are emphatic that ''evolution
is a fact.’’ Then we simply need
to ask how they are so assured this is the
case. The fact is, they have no assurances
to give, but will not admit this fact publicly.
We are humored by this and look forward to
the many debates ahead.

Jeremy’s Question

I
attended Dr. Wells’ talk on Icons of
Evolution while at the Yale Symposium on
evidence for design in our universe. A young
fellow named Jeremy made a comment to Dr.
at the end of the Icons presentation. Jeremy
noted that he recently graduated from a major
University in Texas. What he wondered—in
light of the evidence and misrepresentations
described by Dr. Wells—is that if his
father paid big bucks to put his son through
college, then why shouldn’t his father
be demanding a refund for all the tuition
paid over four years. First, the biology
texts used all the assumptions described
above. Second, materialistic assumptions
used in many other courses were founded on
Darwinian thinking. Dr.
Wells simply nodded and agreed that this
is an interesting question!

Another
professor teaching at a smaller college asked
Dr. Wells if there was any text today that
was without the misrepresentations. If such
a book was on the market then he could order
for his students. The answer apparently is
No. In fact, Icons of Evolution contains
an appendix that offers suggestions for warning
stickers that can be applied to textbooks
that contain the misleading information!

[Director’s
Note: We suggest a look at the companion text entitled: Of
Pandas and People. This book is meant to be used in conjunction with
standard texts to indicate conflicts and misrepresentations that in many
ways address the problems indicated in Dr. Wells’ book.]

Added Perspective:

We may appear to be
proving the negative case by saying icons used in favor of evolution
are essentially
toothless and vacuous examples. There is something gained by culling out
and then assessing what remains. House cleaning should be practiced
in science.
Again, the discussion under consideration is only one of many perspectives
offered within the WindowView. We hope this is not only interesting
stuff,
but helpful in clarifying something special about life. In the final analysis,
we need to demand as truthful a representation of scientific evidence
as can
be made by any source. Counterpoint can be healthy and constructive. This
web page is offered in that light.

Writer / Editor: Dr. T. Peterson, Director,
WindowView.org

(062213)

For a general listing of books, visit the WindowView Book Page for: Science and Scripture .

References of Interest

Step Up To Life

Time spent looking ... through a window on life and choice ... brings the opportunity to see in a new light. The offer for you to Step Up To Life is presented on many of the web pages at WindowView. Without further explanation we offer you the steps here ... knowing that depending on what you have seen or may yet explore in the window ... these steps will be the most important of your life ...